Wine tips: How to properly store wine
If you are investing in good or fine wine, planning and investing in proper storage for your collection is crucial. But even if you have a bunch of bottles ready to drink now kicking around waiting for the next family get-together, you would be wise to still consider how you are storing your wine.
You can properly store your wine with or without a wine cellar, depending on your needs and budget, and quality of wines in your collection. You can get creative if need be with many options available to you. If you are new to the world of wine collecting, the key is to learn and experiment with what is right for you. If you are on a tight budget, you don’t need to have a millionaire’s cellar to keep your wine stock safe from the elements and ready to drink when the time arises.
Here are a few wine storage tips:
- Find a dark and dry place in your home where you can keep the wine out of light (especially whites, but also reds) and away from dampness.
- Depending on the size of your collection, a box, cupboard, or other containers will do.
- It is ideal to store your wine in a separate room or area in your home, like a garage if it has temperate control, depending on the size of your space. Create a space underneath a staircase, which is often an under-utilized space, or a cellar, or basement if it not damp.
- Store bottles on the side (horizontal) so the corks remain moist and don’t dry out.
- Keep the temperate around 13C, which is best for long-term storage.
- A wine fridge designed for wines or any small fridge is great where space allows..
- If you live in a dry or dry-ish climate, invest in a good humidifier for humidity control. It is important that the climate is not too hot or not too cold – the Goldilocks sweet zone for wine storage.
- Consider organizing and labelling your wine collection, according to what makes sense for you.
- Wine coolers are less expensive than cellars, but if you have the space, you can have an awesome cellar custom designed or a cookie-cutter one.
- If you live in small space such as a condo, fret not. Consider off-site storage companies that offer lockers that are temperature controlled and especially designed for wine collections. A small space does not need to hold you back from investing in a collection of good wine.
Shannon Skinner is an author, broadcaster, international speaker, travel and wine writer and consultant. She is a graduate of the wine specialist program at George Brown College. For information about her consulting services, please contact her directly.
